This was the first seminal work on Burgundy that really excited me. Today, my copy - complete with the signatures of some of the producers I have visited and missing a dust cover - is looking the worse for wear, or perhaps more accurately, over-enjoyed!

If you have any interest in the wines of Burgundy whatsoever, this book is a must read. If you are "into" wine, but have thus far remained unmoved by topic burgundy (either with a big B or small), again, this should be on your bedside table.

Burgundy is a complex subject; it's what puts off so many potential buyers. In this book Remington Norman does little to make the subject seem any more comprehensible to the aficionado, rather he helps one understand that it is precisely this complexity that makes the region what it is i.e. the greatest, most important wine growing area in the world.

Maps are clear, doing their job perfectly. Each chapter starts with a thorough description of a commune and then proceeds to explore the most important producers (the "Great Domaines" of the title) of that commune. What amazes more than anything is the diversity of opinion as to how to make fine burgundy. Each brilliant producer has an utterly different view on how to grow the best fruit and make it into the best wine. That so many of them succeed in making truly exceptional fluids is a testament to the culture and heritage of a place that most wine lovers hold in complete awe.

Essential.

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Michael Broadbent headed up the wine department at Christie's in London for three decades or so, during which time he tasted a quite mind-bending number of the finest and rarest bottles known to man. (1814 Lafite described as "old, interesting", Château Bel-Air-Marquis d'Aligre from a vintage "circa 1848" "a faded beauty with twinkling eyes".

His self-discipline must be monumental, as it seems he is always capable of scribbling a quick note, wherever he finds himself with a glass under his nose.

Broadbent marks out of 5 stars, a system I find much more credible than the percentiles so popular with the Americans. In addition, I find that his tasting notes are much more comprehensible to those unfamiliar with the jargon of wine.

His notes are rather charmingly atavistic ("quaint", our colonial cousins might say), like this one for 1943 Mouton-Rothschild: "…At a Sunday lunch in March 1983: uncorked at 10am and poured at 1.30pm to accompany soft brown eggs presented on a wicker-work tray and served with 'soldiers' of toast by a white gloved man servant, the Mouton was undeterred…"

Whilst not encyclopaedic, essential nevertheless.

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Bang go my plans to write a reference work on the subject of champagne!

Richard Juhlin, a Swede, has done what should have been done a very long time ago: written a big and pretty detailed reference work on the subject of the most northerly French wine producing region, its history and its people.

The early part of the book is dedicated to the history of both region and wine; how to buy and store champagne; how the wine is made etc. The text is readable, lacking in confusing jargon and, perhaps, a little depth. What is invaluable is the meat of the work, 4000 champagnes: a directory of champagne producers and their various cuvees, including tasting notes. The mind of the champagne lover suddenly becomes aware of the potential size of his or her playground; just how many excellent wines are being made in the region.

Lacking only (and rather unforgivably, in my view) recommendations for restaurants to visit in Champagne, this is a very useful tool for those visiting the area or simply wanting advice about how to extend their experience.

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There is no more contentious a figure in the world of wine than Robert Parker. He has allowed the amateur access to the core of the wine trade, has exposed sloppy wine making wherever he has found it, has methodically and encyclopaedically assessed vintage after vintage of the world's great (and not-so-great) wine making regions. He has also dictated a style of wine (and very much a New World style) to wine makers around the world; wine makers forced to "fall into line" due to Parker's commercial clout. He has also debased the analysis of embryonic vintages by insisting on appending a percentage score to everything he tastes. In any event, I digress…  Rhône wine is something Parker appears to understand. These are rich, warm, concentrated wines, which is his "bag" after all.

With his usual thoroughness, he strides down the valley from north to south, a chapter being allocated to each appellation; each chapter split into subsections of its most important growers, with the lesser producers grouped in the closing pages of the chapters.

Tasting notes are very much in the Parker style. About 1969 Hermitage La Chapelle he says, "The nose of roasted coffee, cedar, macerated ripe plums in brandy, smoke, and Asian spices is intense, but not flamboyant…", which well demonstrates the colour of his ink.

This latest edition covers wines up to and including the 1995 vintage, so it is not bang up to date. However, what turns this book from a useful reference work into a handy travelling companion is a chapter entitled "Visitor's Guide to the Rhône Valley", which is really a list of troughs and watering holes, from the exceedingly grand (and scary-expensive) to the fabulous value of the better bistros.

Altogether, this is crammed with information and a pretty easy book into which to dip. There! I have praised a Parker work! 

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